


Coma Baby EPILOGUE

by WashboardRibsAndBrokenCribs



Series: Coma Baby [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Autopsies, Canonical Character Death, Death, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Spoilers, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26725777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WashboardRibsAndBrokenCribs/pseuds/WashboardRibsAndBrokenCribs
Summary: ((SPOILERS for Black Flag))“…the legacy of Subject Seventeen will continue uninhibited asSample Seventeen.”
Relationships: Shaun Hastings/Desmond Miles
Series: Coma Baby [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915558
Kudos: 11





	Coma Baby EPILOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> creative title is creative. maybe i'll come back later and give it a real title.

_“…the legacy of Subject Seventeen will continue uninhibited as **Sample Seventeen**.”_

Shaun felt fucking sick. 

Being referred to as a “subject” was dehumanizing enough, but now? He was just a sample, not even a person, just DNA and the end of a familial line. Being involved with the Animus really gave oneself a new perspective on the ancestry they all carried—it was mental to think about how far back they could trace things, all of these lines coming together and culminating in Desmond… only for it all to be snuffed out. 

Part of him couldn’t help but wonder… was this always meant to happen, or was this a freak accident? From his understanding, Desmond did have a choice in the matter. What if he hadn’t taken it? 

He hadn’t been able to bring himself to watch the screen the entire time, only catching glimpses of it and not liking what he saw. 

It was one thing to see Desmond’s body there, faintly out of focus while Abstergo agents encircled him—even that was a sickening thought, that the Assassins couldn’t even have his remains and give them a proper burial or a service or anything. 

But there was something so visceral about seeing him completely limp and unresponsive. Even when he had been in a coma, there was still life in him. His chest rising and falling with every breath, warmth still in his entire frame, a pulse. 

Here… there was nothing. He was really gone. 

Shaun had faced his own mortality before, even been around the dead and dying bodies of friends and allies, even _killed_ and felt the life drain out of someone with his own hands. But now?

He couldn’t make peace with it; in his mind Desmond was still alive, still full of life, like he could shake off his injuries and wake up at any moment. 

It was the final shot that broke him: Desmond’s face. Up close, dimly lit by the vague, otherworldly lighting of the temple, Shaun could make out every little detail of his face. Every line, every stray freckle—he could practically count his pores. He was still vaguely scruffy after being down there so long, Shaun even remembered Desmond lamenting the lack of a way to shave, and he remembered sharing the sentiment at the time. Even despite the faint, gray pallor to his skin, he still looked… like himself. 

It was still Desmond, and he was still beautiful. 

Then the body bag was zipped up, concealing him forever, agents dragging him away like a pile of rubbish, like they were just taking out the bins. 

Like he wasn’t a person and never had been. 

He hadn’t realized he’d been crying until he jerked his head away, tears stinging his eyes and a broken sound leaving him. Rebecca had managed to sneak this video out of Abstergo servers, to give them some closure. Not just the two of them, but Desmond’s parents and the Assassins as a whole. 

He hoped that closure would come soon, because now it just hurt. It ached in his chest, burned behind his eyes, made him feel like he was drowning. 

“Shaun…” he vaguely heard Rebecca speaking to him. He didn’t want to see her right now, or anyone, he didn’t want to see the world. And in a way, he couldn’t, tears already staining and smudging his glasses in a way that would be a pain to clean up later. 

But her hand on his shoulder was warm, her presence comforting and welcoming. His body leaned into her touch without his input, in the same motion she pulled him into her arms and held him. 

It… reminded him of the way Desmond had held him, and that made it hurt worse. 

He’d take it, though, he’d take anything at this point. 

With her arms wrapped around him, he sobbed more openly, his glasses riding up to sit on his forehead as he buried his face into her shoulder. He didn’t notice it right away, but judging by the faint wetness against his own shoulder, she was crying too. 

“I never got to tell him, Becs…” 

“I know, Shaun…”

“No, you _don’t_ know!” he pulled away just enough to look at her, to see the pain in her expression as well, “I never told him—I _couldn’t_ tell him, and now it’s too late…”

“I know,” her grip on him tightened, “I’m sure he knew, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> oh it got sad
> 
> so,,,, thats the end for the main story. like i said way back in part one, i got a lil bonus coming up that's desmond's pov in the animus ~~and it's totally not just an excuse for some clay/des in my shaun/des fic, what are you on about~~
> 
> one again if you got this far, thanks for reading. this whole thing started out as an idea my partner had, and the sad ending was their idea too. so i guess this goes out to them. <3 like i said in the last part, i really appreciate all yalls comments, they really kept me going during the times where i wasnt happy with this fic or sure i was even going to finish it. it means the world to me <333


End file.
